Metro opens first Kirana Success Centre offering digital solution to small merchants

BENGALURU: Germany-headquartered B2B wholesaler Metro Cash & Carry today opened its first Kirana Success Centre at its flagship Yeshwantpur store in Bengaluru.
The centre was inaugurated by Metro Chief Operating Officer Philippe Palazzi, Asia Pacific Head Christoph Winterer and India business head Arvind Mediratta.

The centre will empower the kirana community with solutions and technical expertise to run their businesses in a modern way, a press release from the company said. "The centre will provide product management solutions to kiranas and small traders for a more holistic and sustainable growth. The centre will also help them set up amenities such as modern fixtures with more storage space, in order to attain better visibility of assortment and display incomes. The modern fixtures can be availed by all the kiranas, irrespective of the size of their store, and will be installed within 48 hours," the release added.

Mediratta said, “Rising competition and customer preferences are prompting small grocery and kirana stores to embrace technology to cater to the evolving customer needs in their respective catchments. A kirana needs to elevate and evolve to the digital age in order to stay relevant in the competitive landscape."

As part of the modernization drive, the Centre will also provide POS (point-of-sale) terminals to the kiranas for better stock management; Kiranas can print GST-compliant invoices with this digital PoS system.

The digitalization programme through Kirana Success Centre will help them run their businesses more efficiently, monitor their sales and profitability and operate like an omni-channel store, the release added.